POWER AND DEMOCRACY

The constant themes of those who urge a No on Lisbon and on every EU Referendum since we joined is “You’ll lose power. The EU is not democratic”. This has an instant appeal. People like the idea of deciding for themselves. However, achieving the combination of autonomy and democracy is no easy task. They are at different ends of the spectrum – you can be independent or you can decide to participate in collective decisions. Libertas who blithely demands more democracy in selecting the Commission would be the first to cry foul when a democratic Commission elected by the people of Europe used their mandate to make reforms .

In our individual lives our ability to decide for ourselves always faces restrictions – in the family, at school, in the club, at work. But most people don’t reject these situations. We participate because we need to. We gain by sharing. We also participate because we have confidence about how power will be exercised in these institutions, even though they are not democracies. We know too, that the whimsical exercise of our own freedom can leave us alone and struggling.

The same dilemma faces nations. Isolation has an appeal – “ourselves alone”, entirely self-sufficient and autonomous. But Ireland learned to its cost that isolation can be a lonely and barren existence. Many Irish left between 1930-60 out of need or out of choice, because isolation was a failure.

STRENGTH AND ENGAGEMENT

The turning point in Irish economic history came 50 years ago when Lemass/Whitaker recognised that a strong Irish society could only be built if we opened up to trade and politics with other nations. Their confidence in a Union of European Nations working together has been fully vindicated. Ireland has gained massively by being willing to engage and share power.

The loosest international association is a bit like a Residents’ jAssociation. It can’t bind us and we only co-operate when it suits. But with such limited authority an association cannot achieve much. To achieve something from international cooperation you have to go a bit further and agree to be bound by joint decisions. The spectrum runs from a loose union of nations right through to a full union of peoples.

STRIKING A BALANCE

It is against this background that we can best understand the development of the European Union and the significance of the Lisbon Treaty.

The death of 60 million people in world wars created the need for European co-operation. It started with the instruments of war – coal and steel – and has developed slowly from self-preservation among a small group of 6 nations to the fulfilment of much wider hopes among 27 diverse nations. The EU has continually had to grapple with the question of how do you introduce democratic principles into such a union. One country’s democracy can be another country’s interference. It has evolved as countries gained confidence working with one another.

The achievement of the European Union is unique in history. It is the first arrangement between independent nations.

 That allows ordinary citizens to be represented in a parliament with real power.
 That treats each nation with equal respect
 That has developed ways of making decisions that is not always confined to the pace of the slowest mover.

EU offers much much more capability for action than the United Nations, and much more respect for member states and their citizens. It has been built by consensus not by majority rule.

In Lisbon we make some small steps forward to make Europe a bit more democractic and a bit more effective. We strengthen the rights of citizens and of national parliaments. It is a triumph for the insight that countries can achieve much more working together than they can ever achieve working alone. Ireland has proven our ability to use these new opportunities effectively.

A ‘No’ vote would achieve nothing – nothing for workers rights, nothing to counter recession, nothing to meet global challenges, nothing for a more democratic Europe.